There would have been a certain irony in Orange’s Mick Delaney and Bathurst boys Jono and Blake Dean combining to help ACT try and spoil Central West’s party at this weekend’s Cricket NSW Plan B Regional Bash Thunder Conference carnival.
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Unfortunately that won’t happen, the Dean brothers have both withdrawn from the gun Aces side.
Jono and Blake will miss this weekend’s carnival, the former is nursing a shoulder injury while the latter’s wife is expected to give birth any day now.
Delaney will still be on hand though as coach of the Aces side, which enters this weekend on the back of a dominant, nine-wicket win over South Coast.
“It is unfortunate Jono and Blake won’t be able to come back and play close to home, it would have been exciting but obviously they have very good reasons for not playing,” Delaney said.
Although the duo – who have Big Bash League experience with the Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Thunder, respectively – leaves a massive hole in ACT’s side, the Aces’ mentor is certain the side has enough firepower to cover the loss.
“They’re classy players, there’s no doubt about that, but we do have a lot of depth so it’ll be up to a couple of others guys to step up,” Delaney said, highlighting skipper Matt Condon and NSW Country all-rounder Ben Mitchell as two he’ll look to.
Condon, a former Sydney Sixers Academy member, led the Aces to that emphatic win over South Coast with 40 not out at the top, while Mitchell is coming off a bumper McDonald’s Country Championship Southern Pool campaign, with Southern.
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He scored 139 runs in three digs, at 139, with a top score 73 not out against Riverina.
“Matty’s class with the bat and has proven that, he’s had a run in the Prime Minister’s XI in the past, and Benny did well at the country championship and has experience with NSW Country,” Delaney said.
“So they’re certainly two we’ll be looking to to lead us around, I’m confident they will.”
The Aces won’t be a two-man team though, Delaney says, far from it.
He’s made sure the squad is primed for an all-out assault on this competition, and has been in every other tournament for that matter.
“We’re not coming to just be competitive, or to make up the numbers, we’re coming to win,” Delaney said.
“We want to win every competition we play in and this one is a big focus for us because we think we have a squad capable of winning it.
“We’re definitely coming to spoil the other sides’ party.”
The Aces may well have an early leg-up in the battle for a finals berth – he winner of this weekend’s Thunder Conference Orange pool will join the Newcastle Blasters and Wagga Wagga Sloggers in the semi-finals at the SCG on December 10, the fourth spot will go to the Coffs Coast Chargers, Macquarie Coast Stingers, Northern Inland Bolters and Northern Rivers Rock.
With rain around, the question of what happens in the event of a washed-out weekend considering the ACT has moved to the top of the group with their win over South Coast has arisen.
Section 19.3 of the competition’s playing conditions addresses that exact issue, and states that ”if matches are played at separate locations and on separate dates and matches at either location are weather affected, then 50 per cent of total pool matches must be completed to determine a winner of the pool”.
It goes on to say that “if less than 50 per cent are completed, then the side to progress to the conference final is the highest finishing side from last season. If those positions are equal, the side with the overall highest run rate from the previous season will progress”.
That means just two of six games – with five overs minimum for both sides – must be completed to fulfill that minimum 50 per cent, while if the latter situation arises, Orana will progress.
“The last thing we want is to miss out on cricket because of rain,” Delaney said.
“We’ll take it as it comes, but we definitely want to be playing, just like the other sides.”
ACT’s first game is against reigning champions Orana at Riawena Oval on Sunday, from 9.30am, before its second against Central West at Wade Park that afternoon.
- ACT ACES: Matt Condon ©, Justin Hayward, Tim Floros, Ben Mitchell, Daniel Leerdam, Owen Chivers, Jordie Misic, Josh Wattling (wk), Luke Ryan, Mark Solway, Josh Corbett, Ollie Anable